Choosing a contractor: my experience
I contacted a total of 5 contractors about 2 months before getting the key
1. first contractor I chanced upon his company on renotalk - no t-blogs named this contractor.
2. two contractors were through reading t-blogs on renotalk - the owners openly recommended these contractors
3. the remaining were through friends
First I contact them via phone - speak to them - see whether can communicate
Then described the reno work briefly. Then sent floor plan with scope of work via email.
The floor plan and scope of work should be the same for every contractor you send to.
This will help you to compare the quotation across all of them.
My considerations were
1. Relatively lean budget
I was very upfront about stating that I wanted to keep costs low. To me that meant no fancy designs. I wanted a clean and updated space so I can furnish and decorate. One way to keep costs low is have as little work as possible e.g. minimize cabinetry and false ceilings. For instance no TV feature wall, no false ceiling in living room, no shoe cabinets, no fancy pole system wardrobe, no walk-in wardrobe (WIW). I managed to see quite a few budgets from reno-talkers and if you look closely cabinetry/feature walls are one of the big ticket items. Minimizing these items means these savings can be used to buy nice furniture/decor that can create the look you desire.
Also, no unnecessary hacking. Initially my plan was to hack the flooring of the living room/kitchen/bedroom and re-tile. However after speaking to one of the contractors, the floor is already flat! Why hack, just overlay instead! Moreover when they hack flooring, must re-do concrete screed and this may not be as smooth and flat. More hacking means more costs i.e. one more day of x number of banglas to hack floor, clear hubris, extra haulage costs. All these costs add up and also extra time needed!
Once I told them about my lean budget, immediately 2 contractors didn't bother to give me quotation anymore despite me sending floor plan and scope of work. That's good cos both parties dont waste time. I also would not bother following up. If they dont want your business, they dont want your business.
2. Able to start work on my reno once I get the key
Ask them directly whether the time frame you anticipate your reno to start and end is feasible for them. No point getting quotation then realise the contractor got too many projects and yours have to wait. If they are unable to commit resource to your reno project, confirm double confirm delay one. Also if after speaking with contractor and their next available follow-up appointment is like 2-3 weeks away, I immediately did not bother to follow-up. This guy likely very stretched among many projects and you will have to "fight" for his time and attention.
3. Experienced - must be able to tell me if my suggestion is not practical and offer alternatives
I think this one is quite intuitive. Very hard to assess and based on feel. I feel more comfortable when I describe my idea and the contractor immediately told me what his concerns were. Those that just say ok without much questions made me uncomfortable. Surely miss things out in the quotation and you will have lots of VO (variation order) later. This happened to me - I planned to hack the wall and one contractor just quote me for hacking and erecting a new wall. But missed out the costs of making good the hacked area. This involved getting a new false ceiling in kitchen i.e. few hundred bucks! So his quote was missing some vital components.
4. His network of sub-contractors
A good contractor is an excellent project manager and has good sub-cons that he engages i.e. tiling/wet works, demolitions/hacking, electrician, plumbing. Always ask where his sub-cons are from - Malaysia? China? Generally Malaysians will be better especially tiling. Demolitions/hacking - Bangla can already but usually have a Chinese supervisor. And another good question to ask is whether the sub-cons he usually engages will be doing your reno also. No point if he has good sub-cons but they are tied up in another project!
You can view workmanship of his sub-cons by visiting his completed projects. If the workmanship is satisfactory - ask whether the same sub-cons will be used for your project. Also when you view the project, take note of all the small details like how the air-con trunking/piping is hidden. See whether you can tell or not. If you cant tell, good! Heh
I was very fortunate to visit a reno-talkers EM and was very very impressed with the workmanship! Plus the contractor did it within a very lean budget and completed project AHEAD OF SCHEDULE. So rare that reno complete ahead of schedule lor! The owner was extremely grateful to the contractor and I could tell the contractor had a lot of pride in his work. Definitely very reassuring and made me confident to sign the quotation.
